UPDATE: Mackie has release the NEW DRIVER v4.3 of new MacOS versions. Get it Here: supportloudtec... Here is my review of the Mackie Blackbird. Video recorded completely on iPad
Thank you! I have been using mac OS X version 10.8 for the last year with my Blackbird because of Mackie's terrible lack of updating their driver software. This fixed the issue and now I have updated to the most recent OS. Super pumped
Greg hi ...can I just say you've made my day ! Great video sir much appreciated :) I'm on a Mac OS X 10.6.8 ...still on snow leopard ..yep prehistoric now ...I use Logic Pro 9 as my Daw as I wasn't aware of being able to upgrade my OS to install Logic X due to the driver issue with the Mack ...I'm pretty ancient in my late 40's an old drum session player..my first soundcard was a delta 66 on a pc using cubase 😂...I winged it then and I'm winging it now . The reason I bought this lovely bit of gear was to record in my basement "real"acoustic drums and have the ability to play along with bass, guitar etc and to do some remote sessions which I have done one even in 96khz which sounded great ....I love this interface (my only other experience was with a loaned motu 11 which was kind of hissy on the preamps I recall ....) Sorry to waffle on but please I need some advice. When I start a session I have never ever touched the Mackie mixer window settings apart from changing from 44.1khz to 96khz (someone requested it ) so they are all at unity ....I just hit the kick drum and turn the preamp knob up till just before blinking red * and so on with snare over heads etc ...thing is it then registers from around +5 right up to +9 in logic .....I understand gain staging but it freaks me out that I'm sending raw un gain staged audio files at these levels to clients....is this the correct way of doing things or do I turn the preamps down so it registers at around -10 or -13 going into Logic?....when I do that I get told the Wave forms are too wimpy at their end ....man I've been to embarrassed to ask anyone else rgd this ....I would be so grateful if you could help ....sorry to come over like a mad person but it would settle it once and for all for me ....pps I think I might stick with logic 9 ....it's just running great 👍
I have an onyx 1220i mixer using the v.4.3 driver running OSX 10.11 El Capitan successfully (without using the Terminal fix). My imac is an older model that is not compatible with Sierra, so I can't verify whether or not it will operate under 10.12. According to Mackie, v.4.3 will be the last driver issued for the Onyx Series products.
@Magnus Holmlund I don't know never tried Catalina, but the Blacbird eventually stopped responding to all my platforms (from High Sierra onwards). I'll try to hook it up to another interface via optical, see if that works.
I've been using one with my Windows 7 machine for some time now. Love it. The only glitch is it sometimes has the sound break up or it drops connectivity once it's been on for a week or so, but I can just do the tioaoa (turn it off and on again) fix if that happens.
I have an old Blackbird, but how do I connect it to my new computer that only has usb and thunderbolt ins? EDIT: Also, thanks for this video and letting me know that my gear isn't 100% obsolete!
on Mac, get the thunderbolt to firewire adapter. on PC... you could try this ADAT to USB box here: www.minidsp.com/products/usb-audio-interface/usbstreamer-box
elephantfeet yes, the inserts are both send and return on the same jack, they are unbalanced inserts Tip=Send, Ring=Return, Sleeve=Ground for both channels
Hi, i've got myself one of these and I am running on El Capitan 10.11.6. I have downloaded this driver that you have linked but my mac is still not recognising the mackie. It looks like such a good piece of gear so it's frustrating I can't get it to work. Please help!!
Can you show how to use this as a standalone 16 channel ad/da converter? Also Mackie says this is 16x16 but I've never figured out how to get 16 outputs from this thing...
well, it only has 8x of A->D in and 8x D->A out, even tho there are 2x adat in ports and 2x adat ports, the blackbird ONLY supports 8 channels over adat, regardless of samplerate. What you want is something like a MOTU 16A
Hi Greg. Is there a code for un-doing the terminal command? Been struggling with my Blackbird and drivers for years now, so I just got my self a Apollo Twin Mk2 Duo. Would therefor like to get back to original firmware from before entering the code... Thanks in advance! George
Follow the same steps to get into the recovery mode terminal. use "csrutil enable" to re-enable system integrity protection. and use "nvram boot-args=kext-dev-mode=0" to force only signed kexts to run. Mackie released an updated driver v4.3 so this work around is not needed anymore.
Can anyone tell me how to set up studios monitors using the Blackbird with cubase 9? I can only get them to work through the headphone jack. The monitor works with my guitar or whatever is plugged in, but wont play any audio from cubase.
If you haven't tried, go to vst connections (F4) and check the "Outputs"tab to see if your OBB outputs 1&2 are selected. Moreover, go to the "Studio" tab and under Monitor 1, make sure Onyx Firewire 1-2 is selected. Don't forget to click the Control Room "On" button. Hope this helps.
Thank you your video was very imforative and to the point. All good important things to know the driver issues and noice floor.. and the noise floor somewhat fix.. and the driver solution too. Awesome stuff. You don't have a driver fix that you k ow of for the digidesign avid Digi 002R do you? I'm running Mac is El Capitan as well on a 2009 Mac book pro Stu I on El Capitan can not upgrade any further. Just want to run logic and garage band on it through my 002R
Adam Grey running over firewire allows the use of adat into the the computer through the blackbird. If you dont have firewire, adat is a fine in standalone mode. ProTip: Use Word Clock for syncing when using adat in standalone mode. The blackbird "can" sync over adat alone, but Ive had less issues using wordclock.
Fix worked perfectly! Had a blackbird sat on my desk collecting dust because I was too simple to find a work around. Cheers!!
Thank you! I have been using mac OS X version 10.8 for the last year with my Blackbird because of Mackie's terrible lack of updating their driver software. This fixed the issue and now I have updated to the most recent OS. Super pumped
Greg hi ...can I just say you've made my day !
Great video sir much appreciated :)
I'm on a Mac OS X 10.6.8 ...still on snow leopard ..yep prehistoric now ...I use Logic Pro 9 as my Daw as I wasn't aware of being able to upgrade my OS to install Logic X due to the driver issue with the Mack ...I'm pretty ancient in my late 40's an old drum session player..my first soundcard was a delta 66 on a pc using cubase 😂...I winged it then and I'm winging it now .
The reason I bought this lovely bit of gear was to record in my basement "real"acoustic drums and have the ability to play along with bass, guitar etc and to do some remote sessions which I have done one even in 96khz which sounded great ....I love this interface (my only other experience was with a loaned motu 11 which was kind of hissy on the preamps I recall ....)
Sorry to waffle on but please I need some advice.
When I start a session I have never ever touched the Mackie mixer window settings apart from changing from 44.1khz to 96khz (someone requested it ) so they are all at unity ....I just hit the kick drum and turn the preamp knob up till just before blinking red * and so on with snare over heads etc ...thing is it then registers from around +5 right up to +9 in logic .....I understand gain staging but it freaks me out that I'm sending raw un gain staged audio files at these levels to clients....is this the correct way of doing things or do I turn the preamps down so it registers at around -10 or -13 going into Logic?....when I do that I get told the Wave forms are too wimpy at their end ....man I've been to embarrassed to ask anyone else rgd this ....I would be so grateful if you could help ....sorry to come over like a mad person but it would settle it once and for all for me ....pps I think I might stick with logic 9 ....it's just running great 👍
I have an onyx 1220i mixer using the v.4.3 driver running OSX 10.11 El Capitan successfully (without using the Terminal fix). My imac is an older model that is not compatible with Sierra, so I can't verify whether or not it will operate under 10.12. According to Mackie, v.4.3 will be the last driver issued for the Onyx Series products.
Greg Audrey greetings does it work with sierra?
My imac does not support Sierra so I don't know if it it will work with Sierra or not.
@@gregaudrey4299 Go to dosdude.com and get the patch to run Sierra!
Thanks, but I've upgraded to a mac pro since this post and now running Mojave. I'm still using my 1220i after using the Terminal Fix.@@prenticetyndall
Thank you for the fix! Lifesaver.
@Magnus Holmlund I don't know never tried Catalina, but the Blacbird eventually stopped responding to all my platforms (from High Sierra onwards). I'll try to hook it up to another interface via optical, see if that works.
Hola, muchas gracias por tu contenido.
La recomiendas en 2020?
Puede funcionar en Catalina?
Saludos
Thank you ! 😊
Hello! please do you know if this interface supports a Firewire/USB adapter for Macbook Pro earlier 2013? Thanks guy!!
Very informative video. How are you measuring the noise level and what spectrum analyzer are you using? I would like to check out my motu 8pre
Stephen Washington voxengo span with the input gain all the way down
I've been using one with my Windows 7 machine for some time now. Love it. The only glitch is it sometimes has the sound break up or it drops connectivity once it's been on for a week or so, but I can just do the tioaoa (turn it off and on again) fix if that happens.
I have an old Blackbird, but how do I connect it to my new computer that only has usb and thunderbolt ins?
EDIT: Also, thanks for this video and letting me know that my gear isn't 100% obsolete!
on Mac, get the thunderbolt to firewire adapter. on PC... you could try this ADAT to USB box here: www.minidsp.com/products/usb-audio-interface/usbstreamer-box
Can you show us how to connect two or more together via adat and what to set in the settings. Much appreciated
I just made an ADAT hookup guide here: ruclips.net/video/MLpkIZjvqF0/видео.html
Hello,
Does the Inserts on the back panel act as both send & return?? Where does the output of the compressor go to?
Thank you!
elephantfeet yes, the inserts are both send and return on the same jack, they are unbalanced inserts Tip=Send, Ring=Return, Sleeve=Ground for both channels
can I connect the blackbird to an audient id14 via adat input?
Hi, i've got myself one of these and I am running on El Capitan 10.11.6. I have downloaded this driver that you have linked but my mac is still not recognising the mackie. It looks like such a good piece of gear so it's frustrating I can't get it to work. Please help!!
have you tried the apple thunderbolt to firewire adapter or even tried the blackbird on another mac entirely?
Can you show how to use this as a standalone 16 channel ad/da converter? Also Mackie says this is 16x16 but I've never figured out how to get 16 outputs from this thing...
well, it only has 8x of A->D in and 8x D->A out, even tho there are 2x adat in ports and 2x adat ports, the blackbird ONLY supports 8 channels over adat, regardless of samplerate. What you want is something like a MOTU 16A
Hi Greg. Is there a code for un-doing the terminal command? Been struggling with my Blackbird and drivers for years now, so I just got my self a Apollo Twin Mk2 Duo. Would therefor like to get back to original firmware from before entering the code... Thanks in advance! George
Follow the same steps to get into the recovery mode terminal. use "csrutil enable" to re-enable system integrity protection. and use "nvram boot-args=kext-dev-mode=0" to force only signed kexts to run. Mackie released an updated driver v4.3 so this work around is not needed anymore.
Thanks
Can anyone tell me how to set up studios monitors using the Blackbird with cubase 9? I can only get them to work through the headphone jack. The monitor works with my guitar or whatever is plugged in, but wont play any audio from cubase.
If you haven't tried, go to vst connections (F4) and check the "Outputs"tab to see if your OBB outputs 1&2 are selected. Moreover, go to the "Studio" tab and under Monitor 1, make sure Onyx Firewire 1-2 is selected. Don't forget to click the Control Room "On" button. Hope this helps.
Thank you your video was very imforative and to the point. All good important things to know the driver issues and noice floor.. and the noise floor somewhat fix.. and the driver solution too. Awesome stuff. You don't have a driver fix that you k ow of for the digidesign avid Digi 002R do you? I'm running Mac is El Capitan as well on a 2009 Mac book pro Stu I on El Capitan can not upgrade any further. Just want to run logic and garage band on it through my 002R
please can u help me with the softwere pls
Would there be any advantage of running this interface to pc via adat vs firewire?
Adam Grey running over firewire allows the use of adat into the the computer through the blackbird. If you dont have firewire, adat is a fine in standalone mode. ProTip: Use Word Clock for syncing when using adat in standalone mode. The blackbird "can" sync over adat alone, but Ive had less issues using wordclock.
Will this work in 2020? with, say, OS 10.15?
is there a way for PC to unblock it ?
Mackie has exelent configuration and routing. But firewire is not a good choise.
I like the mackie 400f much better, because it has 10 inputs and outputs....gotta run my analog gear!!!
thanks
Nice!